19.07.18
DfT pledges ‘tough action’ on GTR, contract breach review due this month
GTR could be at risk of losing control of its franchise as early as this month depending on the outcome of a “hard review” into whether the TOC breached its contracts.
During an urgent question about the May timetable fiasco at the House of Commons yesterday, rail minister Jo Johnson promised that the government “will not hesitate to take tough action” against Govia if the operator is found to be at fault.
The DfT has commissioned two reviews into what went wrong during the implementation of May’s timetable, which resulted in widely reported cancellations, delays, and disruptions across the network.
The first is being led by ORR boss Stephen Glaister, which seeks to understand the factors that led to the disruption to ensure it doesn’t happen again; the second is a ‘hard review’ being undertaken by the department to establish whether GTR “has met and continues to meet” its contractual obligations in the planning and delivery of the May timetable.
“As part of that process, we are looking at whether GTR has breached its contracts and we will not hesitate to take tough action against it if it is found to have been at fault,” pledged Johnson.
The minister added that the departmental review will leave Grayling “with the full range of options” should GTR be found not to have the managerial strength or capability to be a TOC.
“All options will be available to the secretary of state at the review’s conclusion, which we hope will come by the end of this month,” he added.
Earlier this week, RMT demanded the government to explain what was going on as it was revealed that the DfT’s director of passenger services, Peter Wilkinson, had resigned as the director of a government company set up to take over franchises should they fail.
The company, DFT OLR2 (or Operator of Last Resort), was established by the department to “maintain the continuity of passenger rail services in the event that a passenger rail franchise terminates and is not immediately replaced” – for example, DFT OLR1 recently took over the East Coast franchise through the wholly-owned subsidiary of London North Eastern Railway (LNER).
The rail union claimed the OLR2 was set up to take over if the Govia franchise failed, and argued that Wilkinson’s resignation meant the “GTR/Southern saga” was getting “murkier and murkier.”
But a DfT spokesperson told RTM that it is “nonsense to suggest this has anything to do with GTR,” adding: “This long-planned technical change ensures the department can hold LNER to account for performance without any conflict of interest.”
During his Commons appearance, Johnson also confirmed to shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald that the compensation being paid to eligible GTR passengers will be predominantly funded by Govia, with Network Rail making a contribution towards the cost due to its role in the disruption. The TOC will not receive payments that it would have otherwise received for delivering the timetable.
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Image credit, Stefan Rousseau, PA Images